Essays on trans, intersex, cis and other persons and topics from a trans perspective.......All human life is here.

This site is the most comprehensive on the web devoted to trans history and biography. Well over 1400 persons worthy of note, both famous and obscure, are discussed in detail, and many more are mentioned in passing.)

There is a detailedIndexarranged by vocation, doctor, activist group etc.

In addition to this most articles have one or more labels at the bottom. Click one to go to similar persons. There is a full list of labels at the bottom of the page. There is also a search box at the top left. Enjoy exploring!

Pages

30 November 2014

In Robert Beachy's Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity, p69 we find (he is paraphrasing the Tägliche Rundschau, 79, 20 March 1898):

"A gang of eight thieves arrested in March 1898 embodied this all-purpose deviancy. Employed as house servants, butcher's apprentices, grill cooks and barkeeps, according to one newspaper report, these youths appeared to earn their pocket money as rent boys and shoplifters, and they spent much of their free time dressed in women's garb. They were apparently successful passing themselves off as women, for they descended on department stores, en masse, where they stole large quantities of merchandise, which was later recovered from the ringleader's apartment. In drag they used nicknames line Die Schöne (the pretty one), Schminkjuste (Juste in makeup) and Seiden-Guste (Guste in silk), and solicited sex at the Katzenmutter."

28 November 2014

Georg von Zobeltitz from Weissensee, Berlin, a scion of one of Germany's old noble families with ties to the Hohenzollern court, was making a living in Berlin as Gerda, a women's tailor, by 1910. She was counselled by Magnus Hirschfeld.

In 1912 Gerda was arrested in Berlin for public cross-dressing, as reported in the Berliner Tageblatt: "the alleged culprit was soon released once it was determined that it was a case not of disorderly conduct but instead of transvestism". Within a year Gerda had acquired a transvestite police pass in Potsdam, and when called for military recruitment in 1913, she appeared as Gerda and was deemed ineligible.

…

At the age of 72 Gerda was run over by a car on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. She is buried in the graveyard at the Friedhof Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche.

24 November 2014

Malcolm grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland, in a Catholic family. He was eight when his father died, and shorty afterwards he tried on his mother's clothes. He was a successful boy, at humanities and at cricket, at a Christian Brothers high school. He always wanted to be a soldier.

He enlisted at 18, and chose to go into the infantry, where he met David Morrison. He was known for his drinking and getting into fights.

However after a promotion, he left and joined the New South Wales Labor Party, and became press secretary to Bob Carr, then leader of the opposition. At this time Malcolm encountered Tony Abbott, who was making a name for himself in the Liberal Party, on a rugby field. In 1985 McGregor sought medical help and was offered a diagnosis of being transgender. He started going out as a woman, but lost his nerve and drank instead. He managed to stop, but had a major falling out with the Labor Party.

Malcolm went to work with the Federal Liberal Party for the 1993 election where John Hewson lost, despite expectations, to Labor's Paul Keating. 18 months later McGregor was involved in the leaking of internal polling that showed how unpopular Hewson was, and this led to Hewson being replaced.

Malcolm "having burnt my bridges with both political Parties" then became a media political commentator, and also joined the Army Reserve. After 911 he rejoined the Regular Army.
At this time Malcolm found a woman that he loved, and they married. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was working as advisor and speechwriter for Lieutenant General David Morrison, who was now the Chief of the Army.

In October 2011, McGregor read a magazine article about Westerly Windina in The Sun Herald, and this enabled him to tell his therapist that he was transgender.

In 2012 McGregor was awarded the Order of Australia, and discussed his gender issues with the chief, who refused twice to accept a resignation. McGregor's book, An Indian Summer of Cricket, came out under Malcolm's name, and in the final chapter she announces her impending transition. Tony Abbott reviewed it, and lauded her courage. She separated from her wife and transitioned as Catherine (Cate) "rhymes with mate'.

Cate & Tony in the ABC Radio commentary booth

In general both army and cricket associates were supportive, but there were a few negative remarks, which led to spats on social media until Morrison counselled her that such was not to happen again.

In 2014 Catherine was featured on ABC's Australian Story, introduced by her old mate Tony Abbott, now Prime Minister. Catherine transferred to the Air Force. She now writes about cricket for the Australian Financial Review. She is senior delegate for women’s cricket in the armed services, and helps select the Australian prime minister’s sides, as his representative, that play touring teams. Catherine is on good terms with her ex-wife.

Mike Selvey. "Cricket has always been a game that takes people for who they are: Cricket writer Catherine McGregor was ‘humbled’ by the generous reception she received from the global cricket community after she announced that she was transgender". The Guardian, 13 August 2014. www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/aug/13/cricket-mike-selvey-column.

22 November 2014

Thiago de Castro Teixeira is a Brazilian policeman who until recently was in charge of the anti-drugs squad in the north-east city of Goiana, Pernambuco. Teixeira was previously married with two children, although some of his colleagues regarded him as gay.

In late 2013 Teixeira took three months leave and after surgery in Thailand returned as Laura. She arranged to be transferred to a police unit that specializes in countering crimes against women.

"I feel that as a woman now I can make a difference investigating and helping transgender victims in particular who suffer abuse and violence because of who they choose to be".

16 November 2014

Spinelli was raised Assis in São Paulo province, and as an adult became a public servant.

After some theatre work Maria Spinelli was cast as a transsexual lawyer in Quanto Dura o Amor?, 2009 (known as Paulista outside Brazil), and won the Best Actress award at the local Paulinia Film Festival, and again at the Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival and the Monaco Charity Film Festival.

She has since been in several episodes of the Salve Jorge telenovela, again playing a transsexual.

13 November 2014

Rafalala, from Siedlce, has become one of Poland's most famous transsexuals, appearing in her own theatre revue and writing a popular blog. Her name is "Rafal", her official name and 'lala'='dolly.

In 2007 she was featured in the documentary film, I bóg stworzył transwestytę. During the elections that year, she arrived at the polling station, accompanied by German and Polish camera crews, but because of the male-looking photograph on her identity documents, she was not allowed to vote. This led to a debate in the Polish media on identity and sex.

Later she was featured in the media when she met with a letting agent to complete a pre-arranged lease, and he refused to let her have the apartment.

In August 2014, she was invited on Polsat news along with Artur Zawisza, the leader of the right-wing Ruch Narodowy (National Movement). Zawisza referred to her as 'it', 'that thing' and 'male whore'. Rafalala retorted with “You, sir, are a stupid man who lies on the air”, and finally, as he would not stop his insults, poured water on him, after which he left the studio.

09 November 2014

One of the good things about this list is that most people on have not yet been featured in either GVWW or Wikipedia. I, of course, certainly disagree with who is on the list, who is not and the rankings - but lets put that aside.

36 Natacha Kennedy, Lecturer, Goldsmiths College, co-chair of Camden LGBT Forum, sits on
LGBT Labour’s national committee and is a founder member of London Trans
Diversity and the Trans Teachers’ Association.

08 November 2014

Marra was raised in Belo Horizonte, and was an androgynous child often taken for a girl. She moved to Rio de Janeiro where her parents paid for her to take a degree in journalism.

After working for TV Globo, Marra found work in fashion on the production side, still dressing androgynously. A photographer whom she had been working with approached her and asked to do a photo-shoot. He showed the photos to a lot of people, and Carol, by now dressing as female, was invited to participate in the Minas Trend Preview, a fashion show that happens right before Fashion Rio and São Paulo Fashion Week.

This led to more work, including in Paris. She also acted in a production of Jean Genet's play The Maids. She has been in two television mini-series and was the first transsexual featured in Revista Trip magazine.

She has recently been seen in the company of a parliamentary advisor, who has endured the ribaldry of his colleagues, and has a supporting mother. Carol has been postponing transgender surgery because because of her busy schedule, but has met with Dr. Marcio Littleton in Rio, and had counselling.

03 November 2014

Laxmi was born in Thane, Maharashtra, the eldest child of seven of Brahmins from Uttar Pradesh. Laxmi was a sickly child suffering from double pneumonia, typhoid and asthma, was taunted at school for being feminine, and was sexually abused by a relative.

By the second standard Tripathi was fascinated by the Bharatanatyam dance, its costumes, jewellery and make-up. She also became with a hijra artist, Shabina Frances. Unusually her family supported her study of dance and theatre, and Laxmi took an arts degree at Mumbai's Mithibai College and a post-graduate degree in Bharatnatyam. She drew comments on the street:

"I was comfortable with myself; so what others said never bothered me. That was the time when I was a queen, an epitome of sexuality, and I had many boyfriends. All this while I found I was very feminine".

She became a celebrated dancer, and also worked for LGBT causes:

"There were many hijras who died on my lap in the hospital because they didn't get medical attention on time".

In 2002 Laxmi became a founding member of the Dai Welfare Society, which works for hijra and other trans persons. In 2008 Tripathi was voted to represent the Asia Pacific Sex Workers Network and in this capacity spoke at the UN Civil Society Task Force at the UN General Assembly. In 2010 she launched the Indian Super Queen beauty pageant.

Laxmi has starred in several television shows including the reality show Bigg Boss, and in three documentary films. She has adopted two children.

She was one of those who had petitioned for India to recognize a third gender, which was achieved in April 2014 by the Supreme Court, which was in time to permit trans persons to vote in the 2014 national elections. The court also ordered that employment and education quotas be established for trans as for other minorities.

Laxmi is the name of the goddess of beauty and fortune who is also the wife of Vishnu. However the name was decided by the Vaishnavist family before Laxmi was born and thus is not a name taken at transition.

Translate this page

Search GVWW

About Zagria

I have a social science degree. I spent several years in the 70s doing Gay Lib counselling, and moved on to organizing trans groups. I was rejected by the Clarke Institute (now CAMH) in the mid 1980s, probably because I do not match either of their stereotypes, but was accepted by Russel Reid on our first meeting in late 1987, and had surgery from James Dalrymple some months later. I have mainly worked as an IT consultant. I have been with the same husband for 45 years.